The games spans locations from Savannah, Georgia to bayou country, and climaxing in New Orleans' French Quarter, which means escape by steamboat sounds inevitable. Expect a little more variety this time round, as Valve has added new melee weapons and expanded the AI Director, allowing for dynamic weather effects, changing level layouts and zombie infestations that actually take place during daylight.Also promised? Left 4 Dead 2 features "more co-operative campaigns, more campaigns and maps for the Versus game modes than L4D 1, plus support for Survival mode out of the box." See three new screens of Left 4 Dead 2 in action in the gallery.

would be better if they could do a sub-expansion... or standalone expansion...

Both Left 4 Deadtitles will be getting a new DLC pack -- titled "TheSacrifice" -- in the future. Valve's Chet Faliszek announced as much on the latest episode of GameTrailers TV, detailing the DLC's story as an explanation of how the first L4D crew lost a member (during "The Passing") and saying that the content will work across both games. Owners of Left 4 Dead 2 will be able to play as the first game's fearsome foursome and even be able to choose which member of that crew will end up having his or her brains eaten by the horde.

Faliszek also noted that the content will be free -- like usual -- for Steam users, and the series will be arriving on Steam for Mac as well. If that wasn't enough, L4D1's "No Mercy" campaign has been updated for the sequel and will be included with "TheSacrifice" when it ships. Though players will be able to choose which crew member passes in "TheSacrifice," a 150-page, four part digital comic details events leading up to the new DLC will have a more definitive finale which will effect the future content for the series (we can't be more specific without spoiling "The Passing"). Faliszek didn't give a price or a release window on the show, but he did admit that this "is not the end, we're gonna continue going" with future content for the series.

Update: According to an interview with PC Gamer (via Shacknews), it seems "TheSacrifice" will be available (at least on PC) as of October 5 for free, though it will cost 560 MS Points ($7) on Xbox 360. We've reached out to Valve for clarification on the release date for 360 and Mac.

#3
xycury
there is only one
CAGiversary! 4503 Posts Joined 11.0 Years Ago

yeah my thoughts exactly... it just makes it seem like Left 4 Dead was some unfinished project they just threw out there to throw out and now with Left 4 Dead 2, we get the "real" finished game.

Meh, it'll probably be priced like every other new release...

Valve realized the pricing too, they had a big open discussion on the price of video games.

my thoughts are probably that they'll do exactly the same... but would hurt them eventually, if the 2nd one is anywhere close to the 1st one.

I had bought it when it dipped to $25, but no other clanmates did, so I was left all alone to play it with interweb randoms. Now that a few of them picked it up, I've played so much of it and don't have interest anymore.

so money is a huge factor, and they know it. I wonder if they will do something about it.

On a side note, the Orange box is a perfect example to so something great. Now if they do a Green box with 1 & 2 for $50 I could see that as a good step, then price the 2nd alone for $30 outright. Another help would be sdk as easy as it is for the Unreal crowd, making maps would be awesome, even some single player campaigns to mimic like Road to fiddler green.

A bit disappointing to see this announced so soon. I would have much rather had some extra campaigns to play for the first L4D since I ended up getting bored with it after playing the same ones over and over. I didn't really care for survival or versus too much, so campaign was about it for me.

[FONT=&quot]. On a similar note, Chet noted that they were discussing including the original four Left 4 Dead campaigns with Left 4 Dead 2. The thinking is that this would make things easier for consumers. After all, if you and your buddies are playing Left 4 Dead 2 and you all want to play a campaign from the original game, it's an incredibly annoying and disruptive hassle to have everyone quit Left 4 Dead 2 and start Left 4 Dead if you're on a PC, or swap out the Left 4 Dead 2 disc for the Left 4 Dead disc if you're on an Xbox 360. User feedback would probably help sway Valve, so make sure to let the company know what you think. And despite the fact that Left 4 Dead 2 is a reality, Chet said that the company isn't abandoning the first game and that it has plans to support it in the future with new updates, like four-versus-four matchmaking.

So maybe it won't be THAT bad of an idea if they package them together.

Whether you liked Left 4 Dead or not it was the single most supported game in the last couple years. What the hell are you guys even talking about with some of this? They brought you a entirely new mode, and 2 brand new vs maps for free and thats mediocre?

They also brought you like 10 patches since the game has been out. Most companies can barely fix glitches in the first 6 months a game as been out. The simply fact that they have been steady patching and supporting Left 4 Dead all the while developing a second is insane.

This must be how it feels to be a fan boy because I simply do not "get" the hate poured of L4D by some people. I compare L4D to other high profile games that people rave about .

I will look forward to more L4D, who cares if its only a year after if its made well and you know its going to be fully supported by a staff that actually listens to its fans.

Whether you liked Left 4 Dead or not it was the single most supported game in the last couple years. What the hell are you guys even talking about with some of this? They brought you a entirely new mode, and 2 brand new vs maps for free and thats mediocre?

They also brought you like 10 patches since the game has been out. Most companies can barely fix glitches in the first 6 months a game as been out. The simply fact that they have been steady patching and supporting Left 4 Dead all the while developing a second is insane.

This must be how it feels to be a fan boy because I simply do not "get" the hate poured of L4D by some people. I compare L4D to other high profile games that people rave about .

I will look forward to more L4D, who cares if its only a year after if its made well and you know its going to be fully supported by a staff that actually listens to its fans.

Actually, Burnout Paradise was the single-most supported game of the year.

Now, I get your point but you're exagerating just a bit. The 360 version hasn't seen nearly half the updates the PC version has.

There is no hate for L4D from me here, but it is kind of odd when they still haven't even released the SDK for the original that they're announcing a whole new game with a probable $60 price tag, though, at least they're mentioning of packaging the two games into one and continued support with the old one.

But even if the 360 only had a 1/4 of the updates the PC had its still far more than most other games. I mean gears of war 2 online was virtually unplayable for months and that is a key part of the game. Compared to other 360 games including high profile ones...its still head and shoulders above.

Another thing is that in the article it says that Valve staff can pick their own projects and L4D2 won out right after the original was finished. That doesnt make its early announcement odd and it just makes it seem like they really liked the game and wanted to continue the project, which should translate into yet another well made game.

Again, this might be fan boy blinders but I do not understand how this can be a bad thing. More L4d please.

I would have much rather had some extra campaigns to play for the first L4D since I ended up getting bored with it after playing the same ones over and over. I didn't really care for survival or versus too much, so campaign was about it for me.

#22
xycury
there is only one
CAGiversary! 4503 Posts Joined 11.0 Years Ago

But even if the 360 only had a 1/4 of the updates the PC had its still far more than most other games. I mean gears of war 2 online was virtually unplayable for months and that is a key part of the game. Compared to other 360 games including high profile ones...its still head and shoulders above.

Another thing is that in the article it says that Valve staff can pick their own projects and L4D2 won out right after the original was finished. That doesnt make its early announcement odd and it just makes it seem like they really liked the game and wanted to continue the project, which should translate into yet another well made game.

Again, this might be fan boy blinders but I do not understand how this can be a bad thing. More L4d please.

I am not hating either, if a sequel is priced right, better than the 1st, I'm all over it.

SDK delay is a hard one to pass.

Look at UT04, still kicking and strong with 1000s of custom maps, if we can get a sample of that on L4D, it would entirely be playing with unlimited "content".

So making a 2nd one, on the pc side, I could see as just a cop-out to swipe more cash, sure they could have charged for the DLC, but didn't... they would have had a hard sell. And same with this sequel.

User made content is ultimately the best in a game if it can feature it.

My hope is that they figure out the SDK to use everything for L4D2 also.

Yeah. If you are going to complain about it...buy games day 1. What more do you want? Clearly a company cant release games on your schedule so to make sure you have the max amount of play time...buy them day 1.

#28
LinkinPrime
A long time ago...
CAGiversary! 43496 Posts Joined 12.9 Years Ago

"A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008's top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games." Set for Nov. 17 as an Xbox 360 and PC "exclusive", the game will add melee combat, deeper cooperative gameplay and new weapons, including a chainsaw, frying pan, axe and baseball bat. The game will make use of AI Director 2.0, which Valve says will take the game's dynamic gameplay to the next level. That means the ability to procedurally change weather, world objects and pathways and "tailoring" enemy population, effects and sound. The game will also feature new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items. Valve says the game is much larger than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch. "Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. "Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original."

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